Sleep
by AkimaDoll
Summary: Three times Oliver watches Felicity sleep. Olicity


So, I'm new to the fandom - I marathoned the first two seasons in two days, and fell in love with the show! Definitely shipping Olicity (I know in the comics that Oliver winds up with Dinah Laurel Lance/Canary, but seriously, Oliver and Laurel have about as much sexual chemistry as two rocks on opposite sides of a stream IMHO).

This started out as three drabbles mostly from Oliver's perspective, but the third one took off. First is set just before the end of Season 1, second mid season 2, and the third set some time in the future/season 3. Enjoy!

* * *

The first time Felicity fell asleep at the foundry after a long night working on her computers, Oliver had every intention in the world of leaving her where she was, slumped over her desk, head pillowed on her arms, glasses falling off her nose. She had been working practically non-stop between her job at QC and his nightly outings as the vigilante, and needed the sleep. Plus, with the way his feelings for the IT genius were getting… well, lets just say complicated, he was trying to limit any physical contact to the minimum in the hope of keeping things from getting more so. He would wake her up in an hour and send her home when he finished putting away his vigilante gear and cleaning himself up.

After twenty minutes of assiduously *not* watching her, Oliver rationalized to himself that it was cold down here, and fetched a blanket. He silently walked over to her and smoothed the blanket over her shoulders, then reached up and gently removed the lopsided glasses from her face, setting them down on the table within her reach. Looking at her face completely relaxed in sleep without her glasses to distract from her beauty, Oliver was struck by how young Felicity looked, more like a teenager than a 25 year old MIT grad. Her delicate bone structure, and how pale her skin was, and how soft looking…. Silently cursing, Oliver pulled back the errant hand that seemingly of it's own volition had almost been about to caress her cheek, and made himself walk away

He would wake her in a little while, looks like she needs the rest…

Two hours later Felicity woke up to someone gently shaking her shoulder.

"Wake up sleepyhead"

"Mmmmmm, wha'?" Felicity groggily replied, dragging her face up off the desk, straightening her glasses, and looking up into the sky blue eyes of Oliver Queen. Jerking upright in her chair she exclaimed "Oliver! Is something wrong!?"

"No" he replied with a smile, "Just waking you up to send you home. Go get some rest. Oliver watched Felicity gather her things and then walked her to her car.

"Good night Oliver"

"Good night Felicity"

* * *

The second time was the night after Felicity had been abducted by the Count. She had rattled around the foundry for a while, straightening things up like she seemingly usually did, before finally settling at her computers and sending Dig home with a sunny smile. Oliver found her there a little later, after he had welcomed his mother home, in pretty much the same position asleep at her desk as the last time, but this time something was wrong. He could see her body trembling from his vantage point on the stairs. Walking over to her to wake her up, Oliver's heart clenched when he saw her face: Felicity was crying, and mumbling something as she flinched away from some unseen horror.

Oliver crouched down next to her, putting his face on a level with hers. Starting to reach out and place a hand on her shoulder, Oliver stopped short when Felicity mumbled "Oliver no!". Frozen, he listened as she continued on

"Oliver no! Please no! don't kill them, don't kill them all, not for me, I'm not worth it, no! no!, It's killing you! no, no, no, no, no, no, no…."

Oliver felt like crying himself as he reached out and placed his hand on Felicity's shoulder, gently rubbing and making soothing noises to calm her. After a minute her mumbling stopped, and the tremors ceased. After another few minutes of quiet Oliver had made up his mind. Standing, he gently gathered Felicity into his arms like a child, surprised by just how small she was, planning to carry her up the stairs to the platform where he had put in a bed for the nights he didn't want to go home. Felicity mumbled again, causing Oliver to pause, and then smile as Felicity snuggled herself closer into his arms. Continuing the climb upwards he could smell her hair, strawberries. He loved strawberries.

Placing her gently on the bed, Oliver reached down and slid off her shoes, raising a silent eyebrow at the heels he had never given more than a cursory glance before, before pulling the blankets up to cover her body. Sitting beside the bed on the ground, he removed her glasses from her face, and set them on a horizontal girder next to the bed. He stayed with her all night, watching her, and stroking her hair whenever she started getting restless again.

At 7:00 the next morning Felicity woke up in a warm and sinfuly soft bed that definitely wasn't hers, slightly confused about where she was until she identified the noise that woke her up as the repeating sound of Oliver's bow being released, and the resulting thud of an arrow meeting it's target. Grasping around for her glasses she found them placed neatly on the girder. Swinging her legs over the side of the bed she spotted her shoes neatly lined up next to the bed, and the spare set of workout clothes she kept at the foundry next to them.

After changing she padded barefoot down the stairs to the main floor. Oliver was at the far end of the room facing away from her, wearing a pair of sweatpants slung low on his hips and not much else, practicing with his bow. No matter how many times Felicity saw Oliver working out shirtless she was still a little stunned at just how hot he was. Apparently five years surviving on a deserted island made you get completely ripped.

"Sleep well?" Oliver asked between shots without looking at her.

"Um, yeah. Did you carry me all the way up there last night? Because I'm kind of heavy, and you really didn't need to do that, you could have just left me at my desk…

Oliver shot the last arrow in his quiver and turned around while Felicity was still babbling, setting his bow into it's holder as he walked towards her. Stopping in front of her he reached out and put a hand on her arm, effectively silencing her.

"Felicity, when you aren't wearing those torture devices you women like to call shoes, your head barely reaches my shoulder. Compared to me you are a featherweight". Putting up his other hand to halt her protests, he continued. "also, if it means you get a better night's sleep than what you get when you crash out at your desk, then it was and always will be worth it. I've got to get home, I'll see you tonight". Oliver grabbed his shirt off of a worktable and started up the stairs.

"Hey Oliver?" Felicity called up the stairs after him.

Oliver turned around, "Yes Felicity?"

"Thank you, for everything".

A small, but rare, genuine smile lit up Oliver's face.

"You're welcome"

* * *

The third time was Oliver's worst nightmare. Felicity had been abducted by one of a resurrected Malcolm Merlyn's goons, and the man had poisoned her in an attempt to distract Oliver and cover his escape. Oliver had put and arrow through his heart, but not before his own stopped when Felicity had collapsed into an unconscious, convulsing heap.

Oliver and Dig had frantically driven her back to the new "ArrowCave", Dig running ahead when they arrived to set up the med bay. Oliver carried her in at a run and placed her gently on the med table, and then ripped her shirt open. No time to admire the creamy skin now on display, to wonder if her knickers matched the rose-colored lace of her bra, or even to think about how Felicity would blush and stumble her way around saying that this wasn't how she pictured things would be when Oliver ripped her shirt off.  
Instead, Oliver moved quickly to place the heart monitor leads that Dig handed him to her chest. For a moment there was nothing, then the slow and erratic beep of Felicity's heartbeat resounded through the room.

Oliver and Dig worked with furious speed, Dig taking a sample of Felicity's blood and scanning it, and Oliver to raid his stash of the miracle herbs from Lian Yu. Oliver lifted up Felicity's upper body, cradling her head as he tried to trickle some of the herb mixture down her throat, but without any luck. Her heartbeat ever slowing.

"It's a slow-acting dendrotoxin" exclaimed Dig, as he went scrambling for the antidote in the little fridge they stocked medicines in. Pulling a dose from the bottle into a syringe, he injected it into Felicity's arm.

Oliver and Dig waited with bated breath as at first nothing happened.

Then Felicity's heart flatlined.

Oliver and Dig sprang in opposite directions, Oliver to grab a pair of scissors to cut off her bra, and Dig grabbing for the defibrillator. Throwing Oliver the conductive pads which he slapped onto her chest, Dig charged the paddles.

"Oliver, get clear!" Dig said, placing the paddles against her chest and discharging them with a jolt that shook Felicity's entire body. Both men stared at the heart monitor.

Nothing.

"Again" growled Oliver as Dig charged the paddles higher, then discharged them.

Nothing.

"Again"

Nothing.

"Again"

Nothing.

"Again!"

"Oliver…." Dig said, letting his voice trail off as he looked into the still masked face of his friend. The look on Oliver's face was terrifying: completely closed off, except for the tears streaming down his face.

" I will not lose her Dig. I REFUSE to lose her.

Again"

Dig placed the paddles against Felicity's chest, and pressed the button.

.

.

.

.

.

Dig's arms fell to his sides, the paddles feeling as if they were made of lead.

Oliver's face started to crumble as he moved forward to cradle the lifeless body of the woman he loved, burying his face in her neck, saying "no" over and over again, begging Felicity to come back to him. She didn't look asleep, she looked gone, and it was making his world go dark.

.

.

Beep.

John Diggle stared at the heart monitor.

.

Beep.

Oliver raised his head too, staring with a mix of amazement and disbelief at the heart monitor that showed Felicity's heart slowly but surely starting to beat again.

Both men grinned at each other over the table, Oliver taking her hand as Dig went to grab a blanket.

An hour later when Felicity finally opened her eyes, the first thing she saw, albeit a bit blurrily, were Oliver's sky blue ones looking back at her, one of his hands holding hers, the other stroking her hair.

"Hey" she croaked, trying to sit up, and failing because of how sore she was. Why did she feel like she had been run over with a truck?

"Stay still" Oliver replied quietly, removing the hand from her head and using it to gently press her back to the table by her shoulder. Her bare shoulder, Felicity vaguely noted.

"You've been through a lot" Oliver continued in that same gentle tone, "what do you remember?"

"Ummm" Felicity screwed up her face in concentration, trying to clear her foggy thoughts, (which weren't being helped by the five alarm distraction that was Oliver Queen holding her hand and shoulder, that was coming through loud and clear) also squinting her eyes, trying to clear her vision. Where were her glasses?

And then it all clicked back together.

"Ohmygod, one of Merlyn's men grabbed me, and you came after him, and the bastard jabbed me with a needle full of… something?" Felicity replied in a rush, trying to sit up again. Realizing right after the blanket that someone had obviously placed over her slipped down to her waist, that she was in fact NOT wearing a shirt. Or a bra. She squeaked, and grabbed for the blanket as she simultaneously flushed red at the gentle pressure of Oliver's hand on her bare back, sending lightning bolts of awareness through Felicity's formerly sluggish synapses, helping her to sit up.

Clutching the blanket to cover her chest and genuinely hoping to die from embarrasment, Felicity nevertheless felt the instant Oliver's hands left her skin and that he had stepped away for a moment. Coming back, he gently helped her swing her legs off the table so that she was facing him (relieved to notice that at least she still had on her skirt), unfolded something in his hands, and placed her spare pair of glasses on her face, making Felicity suppress a shiver as he delicately brushed the sensitive skin behind her ears as he set them in place.

With her vision clear again, Felicity looked at Oliver, taking in that not only was he still in his Arrow suit, but that his face looked drawn and worried under his usual stoic facade. He was also looking her in the eyes, except for the occasional flicker down to her blanket with what just might have been more than a touch of interest, making Felicity blush even harder at the realization that her shoulders and back were completely bare, and that given he was so much taller than her he was probably getting quite an eyeful.

"Umm, Oliver, what happened to my shirt, and um, my…?"

Felicity was shocked to see a touch of a blush color Oliver's face. He mumbled a quick "hang on", and walked to one of the cabinets and pulled out one of his spare t-shirts. Handing it to her, he politely turned around to give her a little privacy. Setting aside the blanket, Felicity unfolded the lushly soft tee, a heather grey cotton she was used to seeing Oliver change into after missions, and slipped it over her head, wincing at how incredibly sore she felt as she did. Apparently getting poisoned hurt?

Looking down at herself, Felicity rolled her eyes in exasperation - the shirt that was almost skin-tight on Oliver could double as a baggy dress on her. Not to mention her hair had come down some time during the day and probably resembled a rats nest. Not an attractive choice to her mind, especially when you were in love with your boss, and said boss was used to the most beautiful women in the world.

"You can turn around now Oliver".

He did, quirking his mouth up seeing how beautiful she looked in his t-shirt with her hair all loose and wild, and having to stamp down the desire to see her wearing that t-shirt, and only that t-shirt, in his bed.

Oliver stepped closer, bringing his face near hers, and reached for her free hand. "After the goon poisoned you we brought you back here. I had to rip your shirt open for the heart monitor." He paused, looking into her eyes as she flushed yet again, and dropped her gaze down as he heard her quietly blurt "not how I imagined that happening. Not that I ever imagined that happening. Ever. I'll shut up now"

Oliver smiled a little and started to absently run his thumb over her hand in his as he continued on

"Once we figured out what the poison was Dig gave you the antidote".

Oliver stopped, letting go of her hand and stepping back staring at her. Felicity instantly missed the loss of contact, and to cover it looked down and fussed with the hem of the borrowed shirt.

"Felicity"

"Oliver"

"I want you to leave Starling City. I'll find you a position with another company, maybe in New York, or Gotham."

Felicity looked up, shocked. He had his back towards her, his shoulders squared back in the way that meant he had made up his mind for her own good to ship her all the way across the country, and her opinion be damned. Pissed off to no end Felicity hopped of the bed to give Oliver a piece of her mind face-to-face, and promptly crumbled to the floor when her legs refused to hold her weight. In an instant he was there, scooping her up like a child, and setting her back on the hospital bed.

"No"

"'No' what, Felicity" Oliver replied, emotionless mask firmly in place.

"No, I'm not going. I know I can't stop you from firing me from my job, but there is no way I am going to let you bundle me off to whoever knows where because you have this insane idea in your head that I will be safer somewhere else, which is crazy!" Felicity exploded, pausing only for a breath before she was about to continue unloading on Oliver, but he stopped her dead with his next words, delivered in the scary clipped voice she had only ever heard him use a few times.

"You died today"

.

.

.

"What?"

"Your heart stopped. You died on that table today right in front of me". The emotionless mask was crumbling, replaced with the desperate eyes of a man who is drowning.

"What are you talking about Oliver?! You said I was poisoned, and Dig gave me the antidote". Felicity responded, still angry. Oliver placed one hand on the table on either side of her hips, and stared her dead in the eyes from not six inches away, making Felicity rock backwards a bit from the intensity of his gaze

"And about five seconds after he did your heart stopped. You died, and you almost didn't come back. I don't know how many times we shocked you, five, ten, twenty, I don't know. All I know is that when your heart wasn't beating, mine was dying. I held you in my arms and thought I had lost the most precious thing in my life. And I cannot risk that ever again. So I have to know that you are somewhere where you will be safe, and that place is not here"

Felicity gaped at Oliver, completely speechless for a moment as they stared at each other, until finally…"oh".

Oliver pushed off the table, starting to move away, when Felicity attempted to stand up again. This time Oliver caught her before she hit the ground by wrapping his arms around her waist and pinning her between his body and the table. The pair of them froze for a second, then Felicity threw caution to the wind, wrapped her arms around Oliver's neck, dragged his face down to hers, and kissed him.

For a minute Oliver didn't respond, and just as Felicity was about to pull away he kissed her back like he was never going to stop. One of his hands slid down her back, caressed her hip, then slid lower so that he could loop his arm around her legs and lift her up, bringing her face up level to his. Felicity managed to hook her legs around his waist, threading her hands through his hair, pulling herself as close to him as she could

It was a raging inferno, and both of them just wanted to pour more gasoline on it, until….

"EH-HEM"

Oliver and Felicity came up for air, panting, hearts racing, and simultaneously looked over at the mildly amused face of one John Diggle.

"As glad as I am that you two have decided to get your shit together after two years of staring puppy-dog eyes after each other, one of you had a heart attack today, and according to both the Cleveland and Mayo Clinics isn't supposed to raise her heart rate for at least six weeks. Something tells me that what you two were just up to was going to lead to one hell of an elevated heart rate". Dig paused for a second, before continuing, "Now I'm going to leave you two alone. Felicity, glad you're awake, you scared the crap out of me. Don't do it again".

"Not planning to, Dig" Felicity called after her friend as he walked away. Turning her face back to Oliver, Felicity let her forehead rest against his. "So"

"So" Oliver replied, tracing butterfly kisses across her lips.

"So does this mean that you meant what you said to me at the mansion back when Slade's army was on the rampage? About…."

Oliver smiled, "I love you, Felicity Smoak".

Felicity grinned back at him, tilting her head until her lips were ghosting against his. "I love you too, Oliver Queen" Felicity replied.


End file.
